On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of René Cassin’s passing, the René Cassin Foundation organized yesterday, with the support of the Institut national du service public (INSP) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the opening conference of its Summer Session on the theme “Universal human rights conventions amid multiple dangers”.

Against a backdrop of growing challenges to multilateralism and the universality of fundamental rights, the conference brought together renowned academics, judges and experts to reflect on the future of the international human rights protection system.

Professor Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos, President of the Marangopoulos Foundation for Human Rights, participated in the opening session alongside Mattias Guyomar, President of the European Court of Human Rights, Professor Emmanuel Decaux, President of the René Cassin Foundation, and Professor Sébastien Touzé, Director of the René Cassin Foundation.

Professor Sicilianos first recalled the longstanding ties between the René Cassin Foundation and the Marangopoulos Foundation, which has supported the Marangopoulos Chair of the Summer Session of the International Institute of Human Rights since 1989.

He then structured his reflections around the major challenges, stakes and future perspectives of international human rights law. He notably identified four significant challenges: the growing contestation of the universality of human rights, the persistent difficulties in ensuring their effective implementation, the emergence of new challenges linked in particular to artificial intelligence, climate change and migration, and the need to preserve the coherence of international protection mechanisms. He then emphasized that the legitimacy of the international human rights system, the effective protection of the most vulnerable, and the defense of the rule of law constitute essential concerns. Finally, he called for more effective implementation of existing international instruments, stronger synergies among international protection mechanisms, a renewed commitment to the universality of human rights, and placing civil society and victims at the heart of human rights protection.

The Marangopoulos Foundation is proud to have supported this conference, which reflects the shared commitment of both foundations to strengthening international human rights law and the effective protection of fundamental rights.

The full speech of Professor Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos is available here: in French and in English.

The conference programme can be found here.